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TRP: Mishka and Roddy (Stables)
WORD COUNT: 1934 Muse: at 8:27 PM Day 175. Stables in Morningstar Keep "You are the ugliest hunk of meat I've ever seen," Roddy said, pouring the measure of oats in the feed trough. The horse- Roddy had dubbed it 'Moggie' after the squash-y faced strongman back at the circus- didn't care of course. The horse was just happy to get oats. "Yeah yeah, just like you ungrateful monsters," he grumbled, moving on. The next one was Ammy- the first time he'd tried to clean out her stall she'd kicked him and attempted to run off. So course Roddy'd named it after his brother. The scumbag one. "If you bite me again I'm not feeding you any more oats," he warned. Ammy just stared him down. Roddy sighed, doling out the oats and dumping them in and pulling his hand back as fast as possible. Fast enough this time! Ammy's teeth snapped shut on empty air. "Ha!" Roddy crowed. "Didn't get me, this time!" He blew a raspberry at the horse- not paying enough attention to his surroundings to realize that maybe he wasn't alone. (Besides the horses.) Coyote: at 8:39 PM Mishka padded quietly into the stables. His boots made no noise in the snow. He still itched, even though he’d had literally days to calm down. He kept reminding himself about what Goro said—that Roddy wasn’t malevolent, just a fool. "Hey," Mishka said directly behind Roddy. "Turtle Kid." Muse: at 8:40 PM Roddy jumped, whirling around and dropping his oat bucket. It made a mess. "Oh it's just you- would you stop popping up behind people already?" Coyote: at 8:41 PM "Why?" Muse: at 8:41 PM Roddy stared for a second. Did he really have a good reason for that. "Well I'd say cause it's annoying but you seem to enjoy it." Coyote: at 8:46 PM "I'm teaching you to be on your toes," Mishka said. "Really I'm doing you a favor, y'know. You're welcome." Muse: at 8:52 PM "Yeah yeah," Roddy grumbled. "Doing me a favor by making me jump out of my shell. Thank you very much," he said sarcastically. He crouched down to pick up the bucket, checking to see what was salvageable. It occurred to him that Mishka was- acting more normal than the last time they'd spoke. Maybe he should mention that. ...Or give Mishka a little bit more time to. Coyote: at 8:59 PM "Oh, no need for thanks. I just enjoy doing what I can to help. I'm a helper. That's me." Mishka scratched his arm where the scabs and bruises had been. "Hey, ah. Sorry for getting fucking weird the other day and cracking off."(edited) Muse: at 9:04 PM "Yeah uh. That was. That was weird," Roddy said, keeping his tone flat and non-committal as possible. Least it seemed to be better now- last time Roddy'd tried to approach Mishka he'd looked ready to crack off again. Maybe Roddy should- leave it at this, pretend it had never happened. "You uh- you seem to like cracking off when- stuff happens," he said. Or, Roddy could question Mishka's life choices. This could be a thing too. Coyote: at 9:08 PM "Mm. Yeah." Mishka hesitated. "When I was younger, ah. Hm, it's hard to explain. I was born with a lot of magic. It was-- hard to learn how to control it. Hard to learn how to use it. Sometimes when I'd... get upset... I'd lash out without meaning to, I guess. I'd burn things." Mishka rubbed the back of his neck. "So my sister-- whenever I got emotional, she always told me to go outside, find somewhere quiet, and hide until it was over. I guess it's just a... habit." He sat on an old table inside the stable. "You like writing in that journal of yours when shit happens. How come?" Muse: at 9:13 PM Mishka was asking about Roddy's journal. (Why'd he ask about it-is he wanting to read more-what's he up to-he's not allowed) Roddy tried to ignore his knee-jerk hostility towards Mishka asking. Didn't entirely work. "Dunno," he said shortly. Star hadn't got her oats yet. Roddy turned and started tending to that. Coyote: at 9:16 PM "Mm." Mishka hesitated. "You alright? Y'wanna talk? Promise I won't crack off this time." Muse: at 9:18 PM Roddy slowed down, set down his bucket and started picking at a worn harness hanging on the wall. Gave a little shrug, not really looking at Mishka. Coyote: at 9:24 PM Mishka watched him a moment. He decided not to push it-- maybe Roddy needed to gather his thoughts, maybe he didn't want to talk yet. Either was fine. He grabbed a nearby brush for the horse and started grooming the horse with long, slow strokes. Muse: at 9:34 PM It took Roddy a minute to say something. "You read my note," he said- and this time there was anger audible in his voice. Coyote: at 9:38 PM "I'm sorry, Roddy," Mishka said, carefully. "It was a mistake. Why's it upset you?" Maybe it'd help the kid to explain it. Muse: at 9:44 PM "It was private," he said. "It was private- and you read it anyway. And- and then you used- used it to upset me," he was looping the harness lead around and around his hand now. "And then you got upset when I got upset when that was private," he snapped. Coyote: at 9:59 PM Mishka kept brushing. "I used it to upset you," Mishka said. "How's that?" Muse: at 10:01 PM Roddy just- stared for a second. He couldn't be that dense. Could he? "You wouldn't shut up about how you'd like to hurt my brother is how!" he yelled, waving his hands in the air. Coyote: at 10:12 PM Huh. He'd hoped talking it out and letting the kid say it out loud would help, but-- seemed like that was just making Roddy upset. "Motek, I wasn't saying those things to upset you. I'm sorry. I won't talk about Jonn anymore, alright?" Muse: at 10:22 PM "Probably for the best," Roddy agreed. He didn't like it. That they couldn't talk about it. That his brother was booted to the outside, and not let in. Sometimes he missed staying on the ship- before that big fight where Goro and Sugar had attacked Jonn. Then again Dad hadn't been- Dad till afterwards. Still though. Wasn't fair. Wasn't fair to Mishka either that Roddy was still angry. "Y'know," he said, reaching out to gently pat Star on the neck. She was the most docile so therefore Roddy's favorite. "Amren- used to read my journal. Would- get me in trouble sometimes cause of- what I wrote. Even though it was supposed to be private," he said bitterly. "So. I don't. I don't like it when- my stuff gets read." February 4, 2019 Coyote: at 9:18 AM “Huh. Yeah, that’d fucking piss me off too,” Mishka admitted. He wondered how he’d feel if people read his letters. Probably fine with it, he supposed. Then he wondered how he’d feel if someone read Goro’s letters... the little love notes Goro had been leaving around, the ones Mishka had hidden in his safe behind the tapestry in his office... and his face felt hot. “Ah yeah. I can s-see why that’d, uh. Upset you. Well, for what it’s worth, I won’t pry again. And no one here wants to get you in trouble, Roddy.” Muse: at 10:09 AM Roddy nodded a little. "Yeah," he said softly. "I know." He did know. Everyone here in the castle- they had Roddy's back. He trusted them- even when Mishka went and read his letter. He'd probably thought it was scrap- it wouldn't be the first time Roddy'd left a mess lying around- so Roddy got it. The knot in his chest was mostly gone now. Anger and betrayal clearing out and leaving behind a sad little ache. He grabbed a brush and went to go help Mishka with the horse. "Sometimes- forget to feel it," Roddy admitted. Coyote: at 10:25 AM “What? Forget to feel upset?” That was dumb. Why be upset at all? And then Mishka thought about... weeping on Goro’s chest the other day, and feeling oddly better afterwards. And how he always tried to get Hansel to talk and work through things, but... Mishka kept insisting he himself didn’t need that, could just push it away. Muse: at 10:27 AM "Forget I don't- need to be," Roddy corrected. Coyote: at 10:36 AM Aw, Mishka thought, pleased. Mishka checked around carefully. The stables were closed and no one else was around. While no one was looking, Mishka gave Roddy an awkward side-hug and patted his shell. “For future reference, yes, I fuck off a lot when I’m upset,” Mishka said. “It just means I need to cool down before I talk more. I used to repress shit a lot.” He lapsed into silence. He hadn’t felt anything, for a long time; not until that day he’d seen Hansel in that bar and gotten that weird, fluttery feeling in his gut. And somehow over the years, Hansel had worn through the two foot thick ice armor Mishka used to keep around himself. Mishka had been emotionally dead off and on for a few years. Everything was still coming back to him, hard. “I don’t think I don’t know how to handle my feelings now that I’ve got ‘em again,” Mishka said slowly. “I’m working on it. I just don’t want to burn shit down accidentally, that’s all. I might pop off occasionally. It’s just what’s gonna happen.” Muse: at 10:49 AM Roddy wanted to hug back- but the last time he'd even grabbed Mishka had been one of those times he'd vanished. Maybe he should ask Mishka about that too, sometime. Later. Instead he leaned into it slightly, carefully. "I guess I don't- know how that could work," Roddy admitted. "Don't think I know how to- repress." Mishka made it sound like a bad thing, but Roddy had to wonder. Might be nice to be able to just- turn off getting so angry about something so small. Instead Roddy was- Roddy. He started fiddling with the brush- feeling like he should apologize. But at the same time, Roddy didn't feel like he'd done anything he should apologize for. Coyote: at 11:10 AM “Well, maybe you shouldn’t.” Mishka rubbed his neck again. “It didn’t... turn it off for me, just pushed it back ‘til later. Stayed unresolved. Probably not, uh. Healthy.” He shook his head. “You already do good, motek. You do real good, y’know, for being so young. And dealing with the shit you went through.” He stepped back. Set the brush down. Muse: at 11:17 AM Hm. Roddy was still not sure but- he'd take Mishka's word for it. They were talking now, the little... upset was quickly becoming something to put behind them. "Okay," he agreed. "Um. Thanks? For being- understanding I guess. Listening. And for helping with the horses," he added, grinning a little. Coyote: at 11:30 AM “You’re welcome,” Mishka said, amused. “I mean, one of them is mine.” Mishka motioned towards a delicate ash-gray gelding in the corner. Pumpkin sat on the horse’s back. Muse: at 12:55 PM "Huh," Roddy said. They were back to normal now, it seemed. Back to their usual thing. This was nice. "D'you know, your horse likes to try and eat my hat?" Muse: at 2:29 PM END Title: Stable Summary: Mishka apologizes for reading Roddy’s letter. Roddy apologizes for getting upset. They make up for their earlier fight and bond. Category:Text Roleplay